SWIMMING

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 7, 10 January 1938, Page 11

SWIMMING

NATIONAL TITLES

RACES AT THE WEEKEND

(Special to the "Evening Post.")

NEW PLYMOUTH, This Day

The fine weather did not hold for

the opening night of the national swimni:,,y championships, rain falling lor moii1 of the programme. Nevertheless the baths were crowded and some excellent racing was witnessed. The 'highlight of the evening was undoubtedly Len Newell's great mile swim, in which he smashed D. Lindsay's record by no less than 52 4-ssec. Pascoe and Yates were his only opponents, but the latter retired early. " At the 100 yards .mark Newell had taken the lead.by four yards and from then on. lie ticked oil''the many laps at aiv even 24 .seconds'gait.

'. Before a third of .the "journey was ■covered he had lapped Pascoe, and his time at the quarter-mile indicated Ihe was going; in. great "style. As he reached the-half-mile,it was seen that1 liis time would be well under the record for that distance, in fact he Had cut" nearly half a minute ofl; G. Bridson's time of .Hrnin 0 4-ssec.

Moving freely and with great pace, he' continued to amaze the spectators with his great stamina, and when he reached the finish and the time of 22min ssec was announced, he received the fine ovation his brilliant effort deserved. With someone to carry him along, Newell would have done even better time, and it is a certainty that the quarter- and half-mile records will go overboard when he enters the water for those events.

Although the selectors do not finalise their selection until Wednesday night, it is obvious they must have been impressed with Newell's performance, and it will occasion no surprise if he makes the team. BREASXSTROKE BATTLE. The popular win of the evening was •that of Jack Davies, tho local breast-sti-oke swimmer, who took the title from Len Smith, Wanganui, in one of the finest races that has been seen for some time. The crowd "rode" Davies all the way. As he forged ahead near the. finish they went wild with excite-ment'-and they cheered themselves hoarse" as Davies sprinted to the rope. The time equalled 'he record set up by Smith three years ago at Auckland, and this announcement also brought cheers from the crowd. Smith was the early leader from Spry and Davies, with Shaw close up. At the 100 yards mark they turned in that order. At the 150 yards, Davies made his effort and drew ahead of Smith and Spry, who were together, about two yards ahead of. Shaw'and Horsfall. As they raced down for the final turn Davies was still going well and drawing slightly away from Smith and Spry, the latter-dropping back. Davies turned with -a lead of two yards and despite a great burst by Smith, maintained his lead, Smith beating off. by three yards, the fast-finishing effort of Shaw, who headed Spry in the last 20 yards. The winner .fully deserved his success, and Smith, the title-holder for nine years; although beaten, was far from disgraced. Shaw, the young Southlander, finished very strongly and looks a potential champion. Spry, who is suffering from a severe cold, swam surprisingly well, and it was only in the last 50 yards that he dropped, back. He was being acclaimed as the one likely, to be in. second place, and he was moving so freely that this appeared likely, but he could not sustain the effort, although hewas not distressed. CONVINCING SPRINT WIN. Peter Hanan, of Auckland, won the men's 100 yards in convincing fashion, and although Crump pushed him close at the finish there did not appear to be any doubt of Hanan's superiority. Frarikhairi set; a hot pace and led at the first turn"from' Symes, Crump, and Hanan, with podgshun close up. Frankham still led' over the next stretch and had increased his margin at the turn to--two'yards with the others in the same order. Racing to the finish Hanan and Crump put- in some great work, with the former rapidly overhauling Frankham • arid gradually leaving Crump. Half-way down the bath Hanan was level with Frankham, ant, finishing brilliantly, he went on to win by a clear yard from Crump, who was a similar distance in front of Frankham.

The "time was fast and the record may have been shattered if the old starting system, had been used. The International Federation -method is now: in force, and as there is no "get ready. warning, the competitors are at a" disadvantage.

Although Miss Mona Leydon did not reach record time in the ladies' 220 yds championship, she had no difficulty in beating Miss Purdie and Miss McGrath. After the half-way mark was passed she quickly took the lead and outstayed her opponents. She is swimming as well as ever, and will retain her quarter-mile title without much trouble.. •.. .. ■ ' .

ANNETTE KELLERMAN CUP.

Rough' water conditions were experienced for the'annual contest for the Kellerrnan Cup, but fortunately the water was warm and the weather fine. A.triangular course of one mile was used on one section and afresh side wind made it hard going for the fourteen competitors. Victory went to a local swimmer. F. Glow, who swam excellently, from-the H-minute mark, maintaining a steady, pace throughout and handling the conditions well. After the first lap he was up in third position, to reach second place in the next lap and eventually to gain the lead from Usher 500 yards from home. He stayed on for a 30-yard lead from Pet-' tigrew, .who had made fine progress from the 74-minute mark. C. Robertson of Westport, who won the cup last year, put up a sterling performance to gain third place and establish fastest time. He was on the 3J-minute mark and swam strongly all the way, particularly over the last lap. Usher, who has the use of one leg only, held the lead for most of the journey and looked a winner, but was unfortunate in experiencing ' eye trouble, which caused him to lose a lot of ground trying to pick up the buoys. He put up a very game effort.